"Being injured made me a better EMT"
This past year has proven, more than ever, that we are a nation of heroes. Among the tens of thousands of Magen David Adom (MDA) staff and volunteers, whose dedication to saving lives runs in their veins, the story of Yair stands out as extraordinary
The heroic story of MDA volunteer EMT, Lieutenant Yair Lifshitz, a 23-year-old from Jerusalem, began in November 2023. Yair was critically injured in a confrontation with terrorists in Gaza while serving as a platoon commander in the Paratroopers Brigade. Severely wounded, Yair received four units of whole blood before arriving at the hospital—two in the Gaza area shortly after his injury and another two during the air evacuation to the hospital. For over two weeks following his injury, Yair was intubated and sedated as the hospital fought to save his life. Since waking up, he has been undergoing rehabilitation, which continues to this day.
Even during the early stages of his recovery, while still hospitalized and between surgeries, Yair dreamed of returning to his "second home"—the MDA station in Jerusalem, where he has volunteered since the age of 15—and resuming the ambulance driver course he had started before the war.
As his long rehabilitation progressed, Yair did not give up on himself and returned to ambulances to save lives. "I wanted to return to volunteering at MDA as soon as possible, to feel that I was contributing. For me, it was part of the rehabilitation. I couldn’t just sit idly by while a war was raging outside," Yair shares about his recovery. He adds, "I have no doubt that being on the other side — as a patient — made me a better volunteer. The injury taught me a lot about the patient's perspective."
